John Swinney, the SNP leader, was out in South Queensferry on Saturday morning with the party’s candidate for Edinburgh North Western, Lyn Jardine.
There was a beautiful blue sky on the cold crisp morning when Mr Swinney kicked off the election campaign with just under three months to go. He was accompanying Lyn Jardine, the Edinburgh North Western candidate who will try to wrestle the seat from the grasp of the current MSP, Scottish Lib Dem leader, Alex Cole Hamilton.
Mr Swinney told The Edinburgh Reporter: “The Scottish Government is focused on some key priorities for the people of Scotland, improving our National Health Service, reducing waiting times, supporting people through the cost of living challenges, and making sure that individuals are assisted in the challenges that they face at this time.
“That’s at the heart of the SNP government’s actions, delivering for the people of Scotland. So this week, we mark the fifth anniversary of the Scottish child payment, which helps to keep children out of poverty. We froze rail fares in Scotland for the next year, adding to the abolition of peak rail fares, and opened the first of the GP walk in clinics in Scotland, which is a big step forward in the delivery of healthcare services.
“So these are some of the measures that we will take forward in the parliament ahead. But as we look at the challenges people face about the over their standard of living being flat as a pancake, the way to address that is for Scotland to become an independent country that can use the wealth of Scotland to work for the people of Scotland, and that’s what an SNP Government will work to deliver.”
Lyn Jardine has been a councillor in East Lothian where she lives, and is the opposition political group leader. Only elected in 2022, hers has been a swift rise through the SNP ranks, and she hopes that her background in health and social care will stand her in good stead.
She told The Edinburgh Reporter that this constituency is remarkably similar to East Lothian. She said: “We’ve got a range of income and demographics here, it’s on the coast, the proximity to Edinburgh, and feeling slightly out of it. So actually, there’s an awful lot very, very similar to where I’m the leader of the opposition at the moment.
“I have quite an extensive professional background in health, housing, social care, that I have taken very easily to the role as councillor and as the leader of the opposition. I am very good at the critical evaluation of everything strategic thinking, but fundamentally for me, it’s about understanding people, what people’s needs are, and engaging with them in a much more meaningful way than sometimes others have done.”
As a candidate ahead of the 2024 General Election she said: “I was born in Glasgow, I grew up in an RAF family in Kinloss and went to secondary school in Nairn. I left to study, graduating from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen with an honours degree in public administration. Subsequently, I studied at Stirling University for my postgraduate degree in housing studies.
“My working background is mainly in the housing sector but also across health and social care. I have a wide range of experience in policy, strategy and service delivery, as well as always advocating for the most disadvantaged in our community. I believe a safe secure space to call home is a fundamental human right.”
The Scottish Parliamentary election will take place on 7 May 2026 and the count will be held at Ingliston on 8 May. There will be no overnight count as there has been in the past.
